Database Info

Noob Unlocks and Subsequently Kills Phone

A day or two ago I unlocked my ChaCha using the HTCDev.com instructions. I then used DooMLoRD_v4_ROOT-zergRush-busybox-su to root it. Everything was going fine until I apparently deleted one too many system apps and now my phone is in extremis.
The problem: As the phone boots up and reaches the HTC logo screen, just when the main interface should appear, an error pops up. It says:
Code:
Sorry!
The process com.htc.bg has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again.
[Force close]
When I close it, the HTC logo appears again as the main GUI is reinitialised, which leads to the same error popping up again, thus entering into an infinite loop.
I can just about manage to connect the phone to my PC as a disk drive, but it's not connected in such a way that RUU or unrooting applications can "find" it from within Windows, so if I'm to fix this it's gotta be from the SD card/Hboot.
Details:
* HTC ChaCha with the latest Android firmware.
* Unlocked and rooted, but remains S-ON (Superuser was installed and worked).
* Used Titanium to delete apps, but made backups and have them on my hard drive for safe keeping but can't access the phone in order to restore them properly.
* I was unable to restore backed-up system apps prior to this critical problem emerging, which I think is because my phone isn't "truly" rooted. I can apparently remove from but not add to the protected areas of the phone.
* I've tried flashing the device with numerous recovery ROMs and they all fail (wrong image, etc.). I'm having an extremely difficult time finding the original ROM anywhere and more importantly finding one which will work without the phone being connected to the PC at any stage of the flashing job.
* Factory resets and recovery boots don't seem to have any effect.
* It's a carrier-locked/branded phone, from Three/Hutchison 3G UK. I'm locked into my contract for another year at least.
* Before I rebooted the phone for the last time [prior to the beginning of the above problem] I noticed that my ringtones and related media were all gone and I was unable to download new ones even using third-party apps; the "unable to download sound" error was constantly popping up and when I received messages or phone calls the phone would vibrate but wouldn't play any tones.
* My brother and I spent the better part of 6 hours scouring the net and trying every combination of steps we could think of to try and resolve this. I wouldn't have posted here if I wasn't at the end of my tether and if I hadn't tried every solution I could find from others on various forums including this one, nor would I be so quick to reveal myself to be a deletion-happy moron to a forum of experts (I saw that anti-noob YouTube clip!).
Is there any hope of fixing this issue given my obvious lack of critical faculties?
Thank you for reading this.

You can always install clockworkmod recovery and from there a custom rom. Check the relevant thread, it is pinned.

OK,
don't panic. I almost thought you'd hard bricked your phone when modifying the NAND. This is a soft brick and ALL soft bricks can be recovered, they just take a bit of pain and suffering. Sometimes more suffering than others, but that's irrelevant.
Question, you say you can't restore system apps? How did you try? If a phone is perm rooted, it's rooted. Obviously a temp root is different to a perm root, but I believe this is a perm root as you can REMOVE apps from the system memory. If a root wasn't perm, every app would be sandboxed so no app, including titaniumbackup would work.
* Unlocked and rooted, but remains S-ON (Superuser was installed and worked).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S-ON is part of HTC's snap on BL protection. The fact your phone is S-ON is now not that important, the BL is unlocked, thats what matters.
* Used Titanium to delete apps, but made backups and have them on my hard drive for safe keeping but can't access the phone in order to restore them properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, important advice here (for future ref), you shouldn't go mad with deleting unless you've tried freezing first. Freezing allows you to recover by simply doing a factory reset. Most bootloaders (including HTC's) allow you to perform an emergency factory reset from there. You might lose all the **** on there, but you will have a working phone. You also need to be careful with TitaniumBackup, I'm sure you didn't remove the obvious important ones, but the fact you lost access to your audio means you removed a sound/media package. Next time, google "HTC chacha, safe to remove" as more people root this phone in the next few weeks, safe to remove lists will appear. For SGS (my phone) there is a whole shared google doc with a list of system apps, and the consequence of removing them.
* I was unable to restore backed-up system apps prior to this critical problem emerging, which I think is because my phone isn't "truly" rooted. I can apparently remove from but not add to the protected areas of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't restore a system app if there is a conflict. Try and identify the conflict.
* I've tried flashing the device with numerous recovery ROMs and they all fail (wrong image, etc.). I'm having an extremely difficult time finding the original ROM anywhere and more importantly finding one which will work without the phone being connected to the PC at any stage of the flashing job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the sounds of it, you are using ROMs designed for CWM. If you are going to do that, flash CWM first. There are shed loads of tutorials. If you want to install the stock rom all over again, just download the stock RUU.
* Factory resets and recovery boots don't seem to have any effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See above about freezing.
* It's a carrier-locked/branded phone, from Three/Hutchison 3G UK. I'm locked into my contract for another year at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't matter, you'll fix it, guarantee it.
* Before I rebooted the phone for the last time [prior to the beginning of the above problem] I noticed that my ringtones and related media were all gone and I was unable to download new ones even using third-party apps; the "unable to download sound" error was constantly popping up and when I received messages or phone calls the phone would vibrate but wouldn't play any tones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See what I said above.
* My brother and I spent the better part of 6 hours scouring the net and trying every combination of steps we could think of to try and resolve this. I wouldn't have posted here if I wasn't at the end of my tether and if I hadn't tried every solution I could find from others on various forums including this one, nor would I be so quick to reveal myself to be a deletion-happy moron to a forum of experts (I saw that anti-noob YouTube clip!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried every combination of steps? You've clearly not tried CWM. I'm not suggesting that as a silver bullet (personally, I try to avoid CWM if I can) but it's the best way to give you low level access to the NAND so you could easily flash an OTA ROM, modded ROM or even return it to stock dead quick.

For a safe to remove list, check the Themes and Apps section.

skezza said:
OK,
don't panic. I almost thought you'd hard bricked your phone when modifying the NAND. This is a soft brick and ALL soft bricks can be recovered, they just take a bit of pain and suffering. Sometimes more suffering than others, but that's irrelevant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Music to my ears!
skezza said:
Question, you say you can't restore system apps? How did you try? If a phone is perm rooted, it's rooted. Obviously a temp root is different to a perm root, but I believe this is a perm root as you can REMOVE apps from the system memory. If a root wasn't perm, every app would be sandboxed so no app, including titaniumbackup would work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Titanium Backup I tried restoring the backups I made; the "Recovering Backup" notice would just hang indefinitely until I forced TB to close. This only happened with system apps. The backed up files are still on my PC hard drive from when I copied them from my SD card, but I'm not sure they're of any use at this stage.
skezza said:
S-ON is part of HTC's snap on BL protection. The fact your phone is S-ON is now not that important, the BL is unlocked, thats what matters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhh, this is probably my problem then. I ignored most of the fixes and workarounds listed as [S-OFF] because I didn't think they'd work for my device haha.
skezza said:
Ok, important advice here (for future ref), you shouldn't go mad with deleting unless you've tried freezing first. Freezing allows you to recover by simply doing a factory reset. Most bootloaders (including HTC's) allow you to perform an emergency factory reset from there. You might lose all the **** on there, but you will have a working phone. You also need to be careful with TitaniumBackup, I'm sure you didn't remove the obvious important ones, but the fact you lost access to your audio means you removed a sound/media package. Next time, google "HTC chacha, safe to remove" as more people root this phone in the next few weeks, safe to remove lists will appear. For SGS (my phone) there is a whole shared google doc with a list of system apps, and the consequence of removing them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm disappointed in myself for being so haphazard in my deleting, I'm usually not that stupid but I think I was a little overexcited to have finally gotten rid of some of the bloatware that'd irritated me for so long haha. I was like "oh boy, I can save even more battery power and internal space if I just remove a little more!". Lesson learnt
skezza said:
By the sounds of it, you are using ROMs designed for CWM. If you are going to do that, flash CWM first. There are shed loads of tutorials. If you want to install the stock rom all over again, just download the stock RUU.
...
Have you tried every combination of steps? You've clearly not tried CWM. I'm not suggesting that as a silver bullet (personally, I try to avoid CWM if I can) but it's the best way to give you low level access to the NAND so you could easily flash an OTA ROM, modded ROM or even return it to stock dead quick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said above I didn't realise I could make use of [S-OFF] materials so I didn't even attempt them for fear of making matters worse. I just now attempted to flash CWM and it hung on "parsing" which is what happened with previous flash attempts. If a flash attempt doesn't hang on "parsing" it parses for a second and then goes back to the main menu, apparently having no effect.
I'd be lying if I said I'm not overwhelmed by all of this; the tutorials I've read seem to assume a fair degree of prior knowledge that I definitely don't have haha. I hope I don't stretch anyone's patience here, but if you could explain it to me like a 6-year-old whose mother drank heavily during pregnancy I think it will help move things along!
Thank you for the thorough reply, much appreciated

Follow this to flash CWM, you need to do it with your computer and using fastboot, this is needed for S-ON phones.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1449681

dapaua said:
Follow this to flash CWM, you need to do it with your computer and using fastboot, this is needed for S-ON phones.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1449681
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I can't do anything via my computer; my phone isn't "discovered" by the command line, unrooting tools or anything else. It does allow me to access the SD card as a hard drive but that's all it does. Obviously this wasn't the case before my problems started, because I used my PC to root and unlock the phone originally, but now the phone's boot process can't reach a point where it becomes receptive to the PC's commands. I don't know why it lets me access the SD card though.
Is there any way to do this without my PC being involved beyond transferring files to the SD card? If not, am I screwed? haha
Thanks mate!

Can you boot into the bootloader (Whith the phone off, press Volume down + power for five seconds)?
Then boot into it, move up with the volume keys and then choose fastboot.
Then follow the procedures in the link I posted previously http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1449681 (start from step 3). Fastboot mode should be recognized.
The fastboot binary is here C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\tools , if you installed the android SDK, which I asume you did.
Good luck, I hope this works!

dapaua said:
Can you boot into the bootloader (Whith the phone off, press Volume down + power for five seconds)?
Then boot into it, move up with the volume keys and then choose fastboot.
Then follow the procedures in the link I posted previously http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1449681 (start from step 3). Fastboot mode should be recognized.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear CHRIST thank you for that - I didn't know about this feature, and it worked! I was able to connect to my PC and do everything I needed to. I used the command line to flash the CWM, then followed instructions for partitioning the SD card and installing a custom ROM. I feel like a real [email protected] I wonder if Anonymous are looking for any new recruits...
dapaua said:
Good luck, I hope this works!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It did - I'm back in business!! Thank you mate, if I could fellate you via WiFi I probably would. You'd have to be wearing some anti-virus trousers though, I'm not a slut.
Cheers!

PaddyM said:
Dear CHRIST thank you for that - I didn't...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great news (I thought you already knew about the recovery menu feature otherwise I'd have mentioned it).
As I said in my reply earlier, every soft brick can be fixed somehow. Some are just harder than others. If I'm honest, it seems like yours was pretty straightforward once you got into the Recovery menu.
By the way, if you decide you want to return to stock, you can do that quite easily. Also, if I was you, do the freezing technique I suggested earlier and use the safe list that's available.
If you keep CWM, do a Nandroid backup. You don't have to keep it on your SD, but they are great for doing a very fast recovery. I can usually restore my phone in about 10 - 15 minutes using Nandroid.

PaddyM said:
Dear CHRIST thank you for that - I didn't know about this feature, and it worked! I was able to connect to my PC and do everything I needed to. I used the command line to flash the CWM, then followed instructions for partitioning the SD card and installing a custom ROM. I feel like a real [email protected] I wonder if Anonymous are looking for any new recruits...
It did - I'm back in business!! Thank you mate, if I could fellate you via WiFi I probably would. You'd have to be wearing some anti-virus trousers though, I'm not a slut.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm happy it worked. Let's hope WiFi technology improves in the future

skezza said:
Great news (I thought you already knew about the recovery menu feature otherwise I'd have mentioned it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I knew about the recovery menu (the stock one, at least) but I didn't realise I could go into the Fastboot option and for the phone to then be recognisable to the PC, thus making it possible to flash via the command line. If I had known that I probably wouldn't have needed to post this thread at all haha.
skezza said:
As I said in my reply earlier, every soft brick can be fixed somehow. Some are just harder than others. If I'm honest, it seems like yours was pretty straightforward once you got into the Recovery menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... I think if it happened to one of you guys you probably would have had it sorted in about 6 minutes. 3 days isn't bad for my first attempt though! hahaha
skezza said:
By the way, if you decide you want to return to stock, you can do that quite easily. Also, if I was you, do the freezing technique I suggested earlier and use the safe list that's available.
If you keep CWM, do a Nandroid backup. You don't have to keep it on your SD, but they are great for doing a very fast recovery. I can usually restore my phone in about 10 - 15 minutes using Nandroid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice man, I'll definitely be looking into the Nandroid backup option, although I hope I've learnt enough from this experience to have no need for it
Thanks to everyone who posted here, I appreciate the patience and the tolerance of my noobery.

Funnily enough, I tried TitaniumBackup today and the original poster is correct. While you can freeze, remove apps etc, you can't return them. especially system. I've not tried any of the alternative install methods that TB uses, but it's quite interesting.

TB is a bit quirky, I think. The system apps won't restore at all, but sometimes apps that I've downloaded myself will restore and other times they won't (the "Restoring App" notice just hangs there indefinitely). I usually find that forcing TB to close and then trying again does the trick, but I can't figure out why it happens in the first place.

Im wondering if anyone else has worked out a good configuration that will allow it to work every time?

Brick - few questions

Hello,
I was wondering if someone could explain me, how BRICK happens or what to do to stay away from brick.
I searched for this question, but cannot find proper answers...
Thx in adv

TwinHeadedEagle said:
Hello,
I was wondering if someone could explain me, how BRICK happens or what to do to stay away from brick.
I searched for this question, but cannot find proper answers...
Thx in adv
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends what device you have. Different things can cause different devices to brick. Usually a "bricked" device is caused by a bad kernel (more so by over clocking or overvolting), (If you have an HTC device) a bad HBoot, flashing a leak that is incomplete or flashing an update (RUU, Odin, whatever) for the wrong device, or flashing a package for the wrong device or one that is improperly coded.
You CANNOT brick your device by flashing custom roms and recoveries or anything like that, and permanent, unfixable, hard bricks are VERY rare and are usually because someone did something stupid.
If you're worried about installing a custom ROM or something, don't worry, it won't brick you.

TwinHeadedEagle said:
Hello,
I was wondering if someone could explain me, how BRICK happens or what to do to stay away from brick.
I searched for this question, but cannot find proper answers...
Thx in adv
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bricks happen when you try something not meant for your phone.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

Thank you so much for clarifying this to me...
I am not total beginner, i possess Galaxy GT-I9001, for 4 months and i installed CWM last week, with complications, i used Odin 4.03 what one guy instructed to me, beside 4.43. First 4.03 failed and my phone failed to boot, I was worrying i could lose the phone. Then i used 4.43 from the Wiki tutorial what fixed the things...
Now i want to Root the phone, so this previous experience scared me, now i am not confident about it so I used to ask here...
So to clarify:
- rooting
-CWM
-flashing - installing custom ROMS
in proper way and following instructions won't brick my phone?
Is it possible that the dev/alpha/beta ROM versions could brick my phone?
How hard brick happens I am interested?
Is soft brick always fixable?
Sorry for bothering with this stupid questions, I am just not too confident, and i don't wanna destroy the phone, i've got no money for another
Thanks again and sorry if bad English

bricked= corrupted bootloader
a really bricked phone is like "dead' and the only way to solve this problem is to flash a new-and-happy bootloader by hardware tools like Medusa jtag jig also you can't solve bricked phone by PC software if yo do so then your phone is not really bricked
I don't know anything about hard/soft bricked what's that ??
you can't brick a phone by flashing a beta rom if you don't touch bootloader but you can destroy or cause hardware damage by flashing a rom/kernel not made for your phone so that's very important to know !
to prevent bricking your phone:
1. never use a flashing tool not made for your phone
2.when flashing bootloader made for your phone only use a stable PC connection/cable and is better to use a laptop on battery
3.about ROM Manager :if you don't see your phone in list never use it to flash recovery/rom
rooting means to get root access this is like your Administrator account in Windows OS well, it happens because by default phones come out from manufacturer with root disabled to protect the phone and their business
CWM is a custom recovery in fact this is a little OS that works like Safe Mode in Windows it can help you to flash a rom/update/theme etc
CWM recovery is different compared to stock recovery because it gives you the chance to flash custom things to your phone I mean you have to give a package a digital signature in order to flash it to your phone and stock recovery is restrictive it allows you to flash only signed-by-manufacturer things like roms/updates/themes and here is the place where CWM comes it allows to flash self-signed packages

Follow tutorials and you won't brick your phone. Stick to your device forum. E.g ,Just because something worked on the galaxy ace doesn't mean you can use that tutorial on a galaxy mini.
Soft bricks can be fixed,those are just installation errors.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

I was wondering how to remove CWM and to restore original recovery...
I suppose i have to flash my stock ROM, am i right?
Do i need to wipe all data before flashing my custom ROM, just to add i have 2.3.3 i only did CWM nothing else is changed.
One thing isn't clear, when I flash CWM is my stock ROM changed?

TwinHeadedEagle said:
I was wondering how to remove CWM and to restore original recovery...
I suppose i have to flash my stock ROM, am i right?
Do i need to wipe all data before flashing my custom ROM, just to add i have 2.3.3 i only did CWM nothing else is changed.
One thing isn't clear, when I flash CWM is my stock ROM changed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you want to remove cwm? Its a custom recovery, without it you can't go custom. Use cwm to create a nand backup. To go back to stock recovery, you are correct, but make sure you have correct files etc in Odin. Pulling out your USB cable in Odin without completed will brick your phone, I know cuz I did it. The wrong files can do the same. CWM doesn't change the ROM, just the recovery. I have also heard of bricks from Samsung kies mini. Yes you need to wipe/ factory data reset when flashing a new ROM. If you are only updating a custom ROM, going from (ROM name) v 1.2 to (ROM name) v 1.3 it is not always necessary to do factory data reset but follow the instructions per developer of ROM/thread. Get root, put custom ROM on sd, in recovery make a nand backup, wipe cache, wipe dalvik cache, factory data reset, install zip from sd, reboot.
Also sometimes when flashing a ROM it might not boot first time. Don't panic, pull battery out/in 3 button to recovery, install zip again, reboot and enjoy.
Hope this helps....if so hit thanks button!
sent courtesy of the pony express

TwinHeadedEagle said:
I was wondering how to remove CWM and to restore original recovery...
I suppose i have to flash my stock ROM, am i right?
Do i need to wipe all data before flashing my custom ROM, just to add i have 2.3.3 i only did CWM nothing else is changed.
One thing isn't clear, when I flash CWM is my stock ROM changed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No,your stock rom is not changed,just your recovery. You'll need clockworkmod do install custom roms since stock recovery lacks the features needed to install non-manufacturer roms.
If you are concerned about altering your current rom,you can make a backup using clockworkmod recovery, and store it somewhere like your PC.
Yes,just to be safe, it is better to wipe data. Unless it's an update of the same rom which again, isn't always guaranteed. Just to be sure your safe,backup your apps and clear everything.
Clockworkmod is removed in the bootloader by swapping it out with something else(like amon-ra).
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

Ok, thanks
I am planning to use custom roms, but it's not important at this time, I am satissfied with current...
I only need to know how to restore stock recovery, if the phone is somehow damaged and needs to be taken to the service warranty is lost with CWM installed?
Thank you and Sorry again if i am too noob, and asking stupid questions, i just need detailed explanations from people that experienced this, and apparently I've got it

TwinHeadedEagle said:
Ok, thanks
I am planning to use custom roms, but it's not important at this time, I am satissfied with current...
I only need to know how to restore stock recovery, if the phone is somehow damaged and needs to be taken to the service warranty is lost with CWM installed?
Thank you and Sorry again if i am too noob, and asking stupid questions, i just need detailed explanations from people that experienced this, and apparently I've got it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is possible to reset the phone fully to stock. This removes clockworkmod recovery and your custom rom and allows you to claim warranty. So far only Sony is the one I'm aware void your warranty permanently if you unlock your bootloader using their 'official' method. They keep you on record,so even if you relock it you're outside warranty.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

How To Unbrick my Kindle Fire?
Hello, I'm a Noobie,
I think I bricked my Kindle Fire. “kindle fire” stays on the screen when I turn it on. I can see the device on my computer as ‘Removable Disk (G’ however I am unable to access the drive. Am I BRICKED for good? Kindle running 6.3.1.; PC running Window 7. Please help…..

lcharrisej said:
Hello, I'm a Noobie,
I think I bricked my Kindle Fire. “kindle fire” stays on the screen when I turn it on. I can see the device on my computer as ‘Removable Disk (G’ however I am unable to access the drive. Am I BRICKED for good? Kindle running 6.3.1.; PC running Window 7. Please help…..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Redownload the rom with a stronger internet connection, flash it again.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

@ Allanitomwesh
You didn't tell me how to reset phone fully to stock

I am assuming you haven't started playing with your phone.
Dial *#1234# and write down the three ID Strings PDA, CSC & PHONE ID
They'll be useful later. Just for paranoia, use adb to save your IMEI details (adb is for windows PC's don't worry)
Install Samsung Keis in same PC. Make sure it recognises your phone. Always check this before running Odin.
Always do a full backup (apps, data,settings) before resetting to stock or just any flashing.
Odin will install custom roms on your phone,and it will also take you back to stock if need arises. This is done by 'flashing' stock rom into your phone.
You can follow this tutorial
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1345671
Where the rom is the stock one. You can get the right one here http://www.sammobile.com/firmware/?page=1&t=2 Clockworkmod and root access will be lost.(those come with custom roms,don't worry)
When using Odin, a few tips,
1.always run as administrator (right click on icon>run as administrator)
2.Odin runs better without sim card and SD card. You can take them out before entering download mode
3.NEVER EVER interrupt a flashing process,its a guaranteed soft brick.It takes about 10 minutes. If you're impatient, walk away. Also for paranoia,better to have a ups.
4. Perform factory reset before and after flashing. * Menu* Settings* Privacy* Factory data reset* Reset phone& Erase everything. Before and after.
If your rom doesn't boot try this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1660596
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

Would someone help me? I just installed CM10 Jelly bean for Iconia A500 and flashed the corresponding GApss right after. Now I'm stuck on Acer logo and can't go to recovery. Help.

xmond said:
Would someone help me? I just installed CM10 Jelly bean for Iconia A500 and flashed the corresponding GApss right after. Now I'm stuck on Acer logo and can't go to recovery. Help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask here for better assistance
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1211
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

Thanks
Allanitomwesh said:
Redownload the rom with a stronger internet connection, flash it again.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your response, I however cannot access my Kindle Fire. It shows up on my computer as 'G:' drive. I can go to TWRP on the device but there's nothing to restore. I think I wiped out everything. There is a message that says "E:failed to mount /sdcard (Invalid argument)" I'm Bricked for good aren't I?

lcharrisej said:
Thanks for your response, I however cannot access my Kindle Fire. It shows up on my computer as 'G:' drive. I can go to TWRP on the device but there's nothing to restore. I think I wiped out everything. There is a message that says "E:failed to mount /sdcard (Invalid argument)" I'm Bricked for good aren't I?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessarily, but it does sound like you went abit overboard with clearing data.
Try and restore stock rom on your kindle. The method where you lose root preferably.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

Definitions

I have read many threads on here about people saying that their phone is bricked, but it turns on. I am posting below how to tell the difference in issues with your android device.
Softbrick: when phone is in bootloop and the only way to resolve is by flashing a rom in recovery.
The best thing to do whenever getting ready to flash a new rom is make a nanoback up!
Nano backup: Saving a rom at a working state so that in case there is an error flashing a new rom you can get back to where it once worked, and then possibly figure out what went wrong.
Bootloop: Whenever your phone just shows the manufacture logo, and reboots and then just keeps showing the manufacture logo, and no loading into rom.
A boot loop happens when you are trying to boot a rom not meant for your device.
Kernal: This is software that allows your phone software to interact with your hardware. It contains the major information that is needed for boot and your phone drivers. There is a line in the kernel that called "bootclasspath", and if this isnt what it should be for your device, you will get a hard brick as this line tells your phone how to boot.
Only way to resolve a hard brick:
1)Send into JTAG service to fix
2)Using a JTAG to fix yourself
JTAG: http://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/202501-jtag-riff-box.html
If you have any question please dont hesitate to ask here or pm me.

Kernal should be kerne! ???
Sent through my beastly SM-T320 using Tapatalk⁴

Thanks for the info. I have yet to brick a phone. I'm very meticulous about steps in flashing roms, mods, etc. But I do know that one simple mistake and I'm in that camp.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Free mobile app

[Q] How is it possible to brick a phone?

I'm kind of expert in the PC/laptop world, but a little rookie in Android and smartphones world. I don't get how a phone can get bricked.
As far as I know, an Android device has internal memory, and a portion of this internal memory is ROM (read-only memory), where the OS/firmware is installed. It's ROM because you don't want to mess around changing things of the OS, because you're not supposed to change things of the OS for the sake of a correct behavior of the phone.
The thing is that if you accidentally mess up something in the OS/firmware, you can, or should be always able to, re-install the OS again and start all over again. I mean, if I delete some Windows files in my PC and completely mess Windows up, I can always turn off the PC, turn it on, go to BIOS menu, boot from a Windows CD and re-install it. No problems at all.
1. So... where's the BIOS in Android? The recovery menu in Android is like the BIOS in Windows?
2. Bricking a phone is like damage the software of the hard disk drive (windows) or is it like mess up the BIOS?
3. Is there any difference between Operative System (android), firmware and ROM?
Well, ROM is memory, a physical drive/electronic device, completely different to a program/software/OS, but I'm referring to the conception you guys usually use (wrong I must say).
4. Why is it said that you flash a firmware, and not you install a firmware? Is it because it's done in a ROM, so it's called then flash?
Thanks!

rambomhtri said:
I'm kind of expert in the PC/laptop world, but a little rookie in Android and smartphones world. I don't get how a phone can get bricked.
As far as I know, an Android device has internal memory, and a portion of this internal memory is ROM (read-only memory), where the OS/firmware is installed. It's ROM because you don't want to mess around changing things of the OS, because you're not supposed to change things of the OS for the sake of a correct behavior of the phone.
The thing is that if you accidentally mess up something in the OS/firmware, you can, or should be always able to, re-install the OS again and start all over again. I mean, if I delete some Windows files in my PC and completely mess Windows up, I can always turn off the PC, turn it on, go to BIOS menu, boot from a Windows CD and re-install it. No problems at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm neither an expert in PCs or Android, so I might just be blowing hot air. I think the difference is that with a PC, it's designed to run Windows, thus Windows (obviously) will work on it (depending on version and processor compatibility). Linux runs because it's designed to run on that hardware. With Android however, everything is manufacturer-specific, and device-specific beyond that. If the firmware and kernel isn't written for that specific device, you'll brick your phone.
1. So... where's the BIOS in Android? The recovery menu in Android is like the BIOS in Windows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kinda? Maybe? I don't know.
2. Bricking a phone is like damage the software of the hard disk drive (windows) or is it like mess up the BIOS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could come from either. Flashing the wrong recovery (like TWRP for a Galaxy S3 Exynos instead of a Snapdragon model) would brick, and flashing the wrong ROM would brick as well.
3. Is there any difference between Operative System (android), firmware and ROM?
Well, ROM is memory, a physical drive/electronic device, completely different to a program/software/OS, but I'm referring to the conception you guys usually use (wrong I must say).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"ROM", in Android parlance, is indeed the OS. Sometimes also referred to as the firmware. Yes, both are misnomers. The use of "ROM" to refer to the OS I think comes from ROM image, when referring to gaming console emulation, but I could be mistake. "Firmware" typically refers to the programming in an electronic device that doesn't have a proper OS, per se. Like a basic mp3 player, VCR, cable modem, microwave oven, etc. It could be argued that Android is indeed a "firmware", by definition, even though "operating system" is more appropriate. Regardless, "ROM", and "firmware", in the Android world, both mean the OS.
4. Why is it said that you flash a firmware, and not you install a firmware? Is it because it's done in a ROM, so it's called then flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing installs, but installing isn't necessarily flashing. "Flashing" is typically done at the recovery level (or through ADB), in the form of zips, tars, and other formats. It isn't incorrect to say that you installed a Gapps package through recovery, or you installed a newer version of TWRP, even though such actions are commonly known as "flashing". However, one wouldn't say that you flashed Clash of Clans through the Play Store, because that's not what you're doing. Flashing can refer to both firmware and software. For example, you can flash apps (like a Gapps package) TWRP batch back-ups, or even individual apps, and these are all software. You can flash nandroid backups or ROMs, and these are operating systems (and software/data). You can also flash proper firmware, such as radios/modems. You can flash kernels. Again, it's not wrong to say you "installed" it, but saying "flashed" is a more appropriate (in the Android community) and specific term.

rambomhtri said:
I'm kind of expert in the PC/laptop world, but a little rookie in Android and smartphones world. I don't get how a phone can get bricked.
As far as I know, an Android device has internal memory, and a portion of this internal memory is ROM (read-only memory), where the OS/firmware is installed. It's ROM because you don't want to mess around changing things of the OS, because you're not supposed to change things of the OS for the sake of a correct behavior of the phone.
The thing is that if you accidentally mess up something in the OS/firmware, you can, or should be always able to, re-install the OS again and start all over again. I mean, if I delete some Windows files in my PC and completely mess Windows up, I can always turn off the PC, turn it on, go to BIOS menu, boot from a Windows CD and re-install it. No problems at all.
1. So... where's the BIOS in Android? The recovery menu in Android is like the BIOS in Windows?
2. Bricking a phone is like damage the software of the hard disk drive (windows) or is it like mess up the BIOS?
3. Is there any difference between Operative System (android), firmware and ROM?
Well, ROM is memory, a physical drive/electronic device, completely different to a program/software/OS, but I'm referring to the conception you guys usually use (wrong I must say).
4. Why is it said that you flash a firmware, and not you install a firmware? Is it because it's done in a ROM, so it's called then flash?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A BRICKED phone is a phone that can't be fixed,no matter how hard you try.In other words,bricking your phone is altering the OS of your device in a way that causes it to become unusable/inoperable.
A BRICKED phone will not be able to Boot/Display any information/Boot into Recovery Mode.And thus your device turns into a very costly BRICK or Paperweight.
I have never seen any BRICKED device but heard about 2-3 cases here on XDA.I guess there are slight chances of getting your phone bricked until you do something HORRIBLY wrong or you do something,you don't have any idea about.
AFAIU,following factors can lead your device to BRICKING.
1.Overwriting the Firmware of the device or System softwares.
2.Interrupting Firmware update process (Half-written firmware ).E.g. Your device loses power during the process/data cable is pulled out during adb or rooting (That's the reason you get notifications or warnings as “Do not power the device off” when performing firmware updates and "Make sure your Battery is charged")
3.Flashing a ROM/MOD/Kernel that's not compatible to specific Device and Carrier.
Hope this helps!!
Regards

Do tell...
optimusodd said:
A BRICKED phone is a phone that can't be fixed,no matter how hard you try.In other words,bricking your phone is altering the OS of your device in a way that causes it to become unusable/inoperable.
A BRICKED phone will not be able to Boot/Display any information/Boot into Recovery Mode.And thus your device turns into a very costly BRICK or Paperweight.
I have never seen any BRICKED device but heard about 2-3 cases here on XDA.I guess there are slight chances of getting your phone bricked until you do something HORRIBLY wrong or you do something,you don't have any idea about.
AFAIU,following factors can lead your device to BRICKING.
1.Overwriting the Firmware of the device or System softwares.
2.Interrupting Firmware update process (Half-written firmware ).E.g. Your device loses power during the process/data cable is pulled out during adb or rooting (That's the reason you get notifications or warnings as “Do not power the device off” when performing firmware updates and "Make sure your Battery is charged")
3.Flashing a ROM/MOD/Kernel that's not compatible to specific Device and Carrier.
Hope this helps!!
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That being said,
To my understanding so long as you flash your phones specific Kernel after flashing a carrier-incompatible ROM you will not BRICK. That is the only time I've bricked a device. It was an S3 and after 3 days of research I learned an SD card can be used to bring it back to life by basically flashing your .img onto it, albeit I could never boot the device without it again, though I could take it out afterward.
It was strange... but since using that device as a learning toy I believe that is something I learned from the experience, but correct me if I'm fatally wrong please before I get someone in trouble.

trinathaniel said:
That being said, To my understanding so long as you flash your phones specific Kernel after flashing a carrier-incompatible ROM you will not BRICK. That is the only time I've bricked a device. It was an S3 and after 3 days of research I learned an SD card can be used to bring it back to life by basically flashing your .img onto it, albeit I could never boot the device without it again, though I could take it out afterward. It was strange... but since using that device as a learning toy I believe that is something I learned from the experience, but correct me if I'm fatally wrong please before I get someone in trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Short answer: If you can boot into Fastboot Or Recovery mode,you are not Hard bricked and there is still some hope
The scenerio you are talking about is Soft Brick.In this case your device don't boot but you can still get into Recovery.To fix it you boot into Recovery and restore the backup / flash the system image.You don't need to flash a kernel to make it working.
A hard bricked device won't show any sign of life,you won't be able to boot into Fastboot or Recovery to run Fastboot commands / ADB shell commands / Flash any image or zip.
Hope this helps!!

Plug out your Phone on flash Befor he finish boting

optimusodd said:
Short answer: If you can boot into Fastboot Or Recovery mode,you are not Hard bricked and there is still some hope
The scenerio you are talking about is Soft Brick.In this case your device don't boot but you can still get into Recovery.To fix it you boot into Recovery and restore the backup / flash the system image.You don't need to flash a kernel to make it working.
A hard bricked device won't show any sign of life,you won't be able to boot into Fastboot or Recovery to run Fastboot commands / ADB shell commands / Flash any image or zip.
Hope this helps!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally understand what you're conveying and trust and believe when I say I've had my fair share of both types of Brick. What I mean is.... essentially the Kernel is going to be the defining difference between Hard Bricking vs Soft. For instance, I'm using a Note 5 Sprint (SM-N920P). If I were to flash BlahRom_N920T.zip then try and boot to system it'd definitely Hard Brick me, but if I were to flash an N920P Kernel immediately afterwards THEN boot to system out wouldn't. It might be kind of jacked up and buggy, but that's the determining factor as far as I understand.

Warning: Do not flash the google assistant

I flashed the Google assistant some time ago and everything was fine but yesterday I decided to do some minor build prop edits and accidentally bricked my phone. Now that's fine because they have multiple ways of unbricking the T-Mobile LG v20. But when I tried to unbricking it using LGup nothing works because it registers my phone as a pixel and now my phone can't be restored. So take it from me..Don't do it!!! It isn't worth the loss. I have a brick now. An official lg v20 brick. Sigh
EDIT:
IM EDITING THIS TO ADD WHAT I DID.
Here's the story
I was trying to revert to stock with the build prop so I could upgrade my phone. so I edited the prob and removed the lines I added to get Google assistant in the first place but it crashed and when I entered TWRP to push the build prop. When that didn't work I flashed the stock tot file which got my phone working but I wanted to upgrade so I found the page in XDA to flash the kdz with LGup which I was doing but half way through it failed and Twrp was gone which started this snow ball effect.

Do you not have TWRP you can reboot into, and re-flash a backup or new ROM?

CharlzO_2000 said:
Do you not have TWRP you can reboot into, and re-flash a backup or new ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, the only thing my phone does it boot into the mode where it says "Firmware update" mode. I really think I destroyed my phone.

remix435 said:
Nope, the only thing my phone does it boot into the mode where it says "Firmware update" mode. I really think I destroyed my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take it to the store and tell them it happend when the phone was updating.

slayerh4x said:
Take it to the store and tell them it happend when the phone was updating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's actually a pretty good idea. I'm going as soon as TMobile opens.

I had the same problem. ADB didn't recognize my device to run command to reboot recovery. I found that ADB did pick it up while doing a factory reset. Even tho it was the original LG factory reset screen it would use TWRP to perform the reset but would automatically reboot after. So I had a command window opened with adb reboot-recovery typed then I rebooted into the original factory reset and selected yes twice. As soon as TWRP screen came up and I heard the windows chime recognizing the device I hit enter in command window to reboot recovery and it rebooted into TWRP normally where I was able to restore from backup. If you time it right you can get back to TWRP. Hope this helps

Leonarddale said:
I had the same problem. ADB didn't recognize my device to run command to reboot recovery. I found that ADB did pick it up while doing a factory reset. Even tho it was the original LG factory reset screen it would use TWRP to perform the reset but would automatically reboot after. So I had a command window opened with adb reboot-recovery typed then I rebooted into the original factory reset and selected yes twice. As soon as TWRP screen came up and I heard the windows chime recognizing the device I hit enter in command window to reboot recovery and it rebooted into TWRP normally where I was able to restore from backup. If you time it right you can get back to TWRP. Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.

remix435 said:
I flashed the Google assistant some time ago and everything was fine but yesterday I decided to do some minor build prop edits and accidentally bricked my phone. Now that's fine because they have multiple ways of unbricking the T-Mobile LG v20. But when I tried to unbricking it using LGup nothing works because it registers my phone as a pixel and now my phone can't be restored. So take it from me..Don't do it!!! It isn't worth the loss. I have a brick now. An official lg v20 brick. Sigh*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is very strange, I recently bricked my phone to the point where I didn't have a system at all on it. When you boot to firmware update mode (power + volume up) and pluged it in LGUp recognized it instantly. You have the correct DLL for your device right?

shadowxaero said:
That is very strange, I recently bricked my phone to the point where I didn't have a system at all on it. When you boot to firmware update mode (power + volume up) and pluged it in LGUp recognized it instantly. You have the correct DLL for your device right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My issue was that when I flashed the assistant mod it turned my device name into " google pixel" so when I hooked it up to lgup it read it as a pixel and failed the restore every time. That was the issue I couldnt change the name of my devixe back to the v20.

Leonarddale said:
I had the same problem. ADB didn't recognize my device to run command to reboot recovery. I found that ADB did pick it up while doing a factory reset. Even tho it was the original LG factory reset screen it would use TWRP to perform the reset but would automatically reboot after. So I had a command window opened with adb reboot-recovery typed then I rebooted into the original factory reset and selected yes twice. As soon as TWRP screen came up and I heard the windows chime recognizing the device I hit enter in command window to reboot recovery and it rebooted into TWRP normally where I was able to restore from backup. If you time it right you can get back to TWRP. Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disnt have anything on my phone. No twrp and I couldnt install it. The assistant mod changed my device name to PIXEL and when id connect it to the pc it read as a pixel and failed every update I LG V20 I pushed to it..that was a new type of brick lol. But I told t mobile that if I what happened and I got another one.

These old assistant mods would be taken down. The only thing needed to enable it without spoofing a phone as a Pixel is adding "ro.opa.eligible_device=true" to build.prop, and the Google app updated via Play Store.

remix435 said:
My issue was that when I flashed the assistant mod it turned my device name into " google pixel" so when I hooked it up to lgup it read it as a pixel and failed the restore every time. That was the issue I couldnt change the name of my devixe back to the v20.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the thing my phone didn't have a system on it at all and LGUp read it as what it was. When you on the firmware screen it should read based on hardware ID right? Have you tried using LG bridge? Are you on the T-Mobile variant?

This is a contributing factor in why these companies lock bootloaders. People do stupid things because they don't know what they're doing and then others encourage them to just return it and get a new one and lie. Not cool at all. How about don't root your phone if you don't know what you're doing.

markbencze said:
This is a contributing factor in why these companies lock bootloaders. People do stupid things because they don't know what they're doing and then others encourage them to just return it and get a new one and lie. Not cool at all. How about don't root your phone if you don't know what you're doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WTF! With your logic no one would learn anything.
My phone was rooted just fine. How was I suppose to know that after I flashed the stock build prop my phone was going to stay as a pixel device?? That wasn't stupid of me that was trial and error. Something stupid is if I did it again. No one specified that my phone would stay as a pixel device, go read the instructions and tell me where it says that. Also, I have "Jump on demand" so I used one of my jumps to get a brand new phone..So I paid a price for it. It wasn't just "me lying and getting a free phone" I still paid for it I paid for my mistake and Yes initially I lied but still paid and am still paying for this phone. Plus I have an s7 edge and a Huawei honor note 8 all rooted and have never ran into any issues. Why?? Because I never did what people instructions told me not to do. I always follow instructions. I've been rooting phones since I was a milk drinker all the way back to the G1 days. I'm very careful but if instructions don't cover all the basis then what?? PEOPLE, including me should continue to root and try new things. But you can't blame them if YOU(not you in particular but in general) as a developer make something and can't catch all the bugs(it isn't The developers/modders fault either)..Modding is a giant community of trial and error. The only people at fault are idiots who don't read and do some ****. Other than that we are all out here finding our way with these new devices. So yes, I have a new v20 that I paid for with MY "Jump on demand" plan that is now rooted and unlocked. Now am I going to use the Google assistant mod again?? No, because that would be stupid of me. Now get off my post.
I was just warning people so they wouldn't make the same mistake as me.

Whats the stupid part is how you managed to erase TWRP and lose access to fastboot on your device. Not that your changed something in build.prop. His logic is not flawed, whatever you did to lose access to the two essential parts of having a rooted phone is the flaw here.
Also simply doing build.prop edits should not make you lose access to TWRP nor being able to access fastboot - or did you relock your bootloader?

twistedvip said:
Whats the stupid part is how you managed to erase TWRP and lose access to fastboot on your device. Not that your changed something in build.prop. His logic is not flawed, whatever you did to lose access to the two essential parts of having a rooted phone is the flaw here.
Also simply doing build.prop edits should not make you lose access to TWRP nor being able to access fastboot - or did you relock your bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In stead of assuming what happened with my device how about y'all ask me the details first. But coming off the bat assuming that I just did foolishness is asinine.
I was trying to revert to stock with the build prop so I could upgrade my phone. so I edited the prob and removed the lines I added to get Google assistant in the first place but it crashed and when I entered TWRP to push the build prop. When that didn't work I flashed the stock tot file which got my phone working but I wanted to upgrade so I found the page in XDA to flash the kdz with LGup which I was doing but half way through it failed and Twrp was gone which started this snow ball effect.
So once again where's the stupidity on my part when I didn't know that my phone was still going to be labeled a a pixel after a factory reset? Please, both of you have several seats in the back.
All I'm doing is warning people about what could possibly happen. Y'all can miss me with your unnecessary opinions and comments.

No I appreciate you wanting to warn the community, but you most certainly did not post that story. You posted saying you got bricked from doing edits to your build.prop and then because of using a Google assitant mod you are hard bricked. Post that entire story as a warning because even having your phone appear as a Pixel won't do any harm - but flashing a .kdz and having it fail midway may indeed cause harm. Lack of details causes much misinformation to spread around quickly

twistedvip said:
No I appreciate you wanting to warn the community, but you most certainly did not post that story. You posted saying you got bricked from doing edits to your build.prop and then because of using a Google assitant mod you are hard bricked. Post that entire story as a warning because even having your phone appear as a Pixel won't do any harm - but flashing a .kdz and having it fail midway may indeed cause harm. Lack of details causes much misinformation to spread around quickly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bad I'll edit it. And apologies for the response tone.

It's called taking responsibility. You had a phone with root and did something stupid. Instead of taking responsibility you lie and tell them the phone is defective. That is 100% your fault. I bet it worked fine before you started messing with it. Whatever man I'm gonna let this be but you can bet that when these companies look at the supposed drfrctive returned phones and see they have been tamperred with and that people are being dishonest to get a new phone when they're the sole reason the phone stopped working, eventually they will all say screw it and just lock everything down.
Hopefully you learned from this.

markbencze said:
It's called taking responsibility. You had a phone with root and did something stupid. Instead of taking responsibility you lie and tell them the phone is defective. That is 100% your fault. I bet it worked fine before you started messing with it. Whatever man I'm gonna let this be but you can bet that when these companies look at the supposed drfrctive returned phones and see they have been tamperred with and that people are being dishonest to get a new phone when they're the sole reason the phone stopped working, eventually they will all say screw it and just lock everything down.
Hopefully you learned from this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the phone had a few random rebootsa and use to freeze on stock. I decided to keep it because of the note 7 fiasco and I was too frustrated and pissed to return it and then they ran out. So this was well over due. But once again you know nothing Jon snow. And yes I did lie but this device already had issues. Soooo???